But execution can be difficult and resources scarce, so what can you do? Here are 5 creative ways to reward employees during this hectic time of year.

Creative Holiday Perks and Gifts

1. Paid shopping days (or half days)

Many employees will have extra shopping to do this time of year. To help them out, you can designate one day or half day of paid time off to help them accomplish what needs to be done. Not only will this create goodwill since you’re helping staff cross off things on their personal to-do lists but it will also help reduce employees’ stress and increase their productivity at work since they no longer have to worry about purchasing or wrapping gifts.

2. Change work hours

If you can’t give time off, some professional service companies will shift working hours from five 8-hour days to four 10-hours days Monday through Thursday, which gives your staff a three-day weekend. You’ll still need to communicate to customers your revised hours, but this gives your team an extended weekend without sacrificing any work time.

If you don’t want to change work hours for the entire office, then consider giving each employee a certain number of flex days, where they can come in late or leave the office early to run errands.

3. Bring relaxation to the office

Bring in a local yoga instructor to help your staff relieve stress. If there’s no space in your office, arrange a special session with a studio (during the work day) and encourage your employees to relax on you.

Another great way to help your team alleviate stress is hiring a masseuse to provide chair massages one afternoon. Since this time of year is very stressful, a 15-minute chair massage can really help.

4. Create handmade gifts or make homemade food for your team or immediate reports

How would you feel if your boss took the time to create a gift or make food for you? Nothing shows appreciation like a handmade gift or homemade food. Now, depending on the size of your staff, this may or may not be feasible. Just keep in mind that you won’t be making an entire cake for each person. Keep it small and simple.

Craft stores like Michaels have holiday bags, individual-size ceramic bowls, and other sorts of holiday wrapping that will enhance the presentation of your gifts. Food ideas include fudge, cookies, peanut clusters, cupcakes, and small gingerbread loafs. Be aware of any food allergies.

If you don’t feel like a small batch of fudge is enough, couple the gift with a $5 or $10 gift card to their favorite coffee place or restaurant.

If small gifts for everyone is too much, create healthy snacks or make desserts for the break room. A survey conducted by food company Seamless revealed 60% of respondents report that “having more food at the office would make them feel more valued and appreciated by their employer.”

Ideally every business will support the community through service efforts or item/monetary donations. Why not help an organization that is near and dear to the hearts of your employees?

You could implement this suggestion within your company as an annual event, or you could let your staff decide which organization to support each month for the upcoming year.

How to execute this? Some companies create a community committee made up of volunteers that collect suggestions, decide which nonprofits to serve, and spearhead the projects. An alternative is to have companywide polls to make sure the process is inclusive of everyone.

If It’s Too Late

If it’s too late for you to implement these ideas this holiday season, don’t fret. You can still use these ideas. Either work on holiday perks right now while it’s fresh on your mind, or bookmark this page and put a reminder on your calendar for late October or early November so you can revisit it.

And remember that there are lots of other holidays throughout the year where you can show how much you appreciate your team – Valentine’s Day, Administrative Assistants Day, and even the 4th of July all give you a chance to let folks know how much you value them.

About Lindsey Perkins Wade

The Private Business Owner – A Generational Equity Blog

The Private Business Owner is an online publication sponsored by Generational Equity. PBO aims to provide useful tips and information that will improve both the lives and businesses of entrepreneurs, as well as provide valuable insight into the company exit process through bi-weekly M&A Digests.